Fifty people died, over 11,000 were injured, and 100,000 houses were heavily damaged or destroyed in an earthquake that struck North China's Hebei Province.

The quake, measuring 6. 2 on the Richter scale (里氏6 .2级) , hit the area 220km northwest of Beijing at 11: 50 a. m. on January 10, 1998.

Scientists made a report of the recent quake. They said that the area of northwestern Beijing, the joint of Shanxi and Hebei Provinces and the Inner Mongolia (内蒙古) were most easily attacked by earthquakes measuring 6 to a bit over 7 on the Richter scale.

However, scientists did not see the recent earthquake earlier. Clouds covered a large area in the northern part of North China before the earthquake and experts say that this prevented satellites from correctly watching the temperature at the correct altitude (纬度).

Experts say that in the last ten years, about 305 earthquakes have taken place in China with 9 measuring over 7 on the Richter scale, 60 measuring over 6, and 236 measuring over 5.

Tens of thousands of people died or were injured. Loss(损失) valued over 10 billion yuan.

小题1:When the earthquake attacked the area, most people there were unlikely（不太可能的）to ____.

A．sleep in bed

B．work in the fields

C．walk in the streets

D．stay at home小题2:The report shows that about nine earthquakes in the past ten years are measured over ____ on the Richter scale.

A．7

B．5

C．9

D．6小题3:It can be inferred（推断） from the report that the damage caused by the earthquakes could be much less heavy if ____.

A．all the people stayed outside

B．the earthquake happened at midnight

C．the people had been warned earlier

D．the earthquake scale was lower than 6. 2 only小题4:Which of the following can be reasonable except ____.

A．We can not stop earthquakes

B．Scientists are working hard at the researches on earthquakes

C．We can do our best to have fewer damages than ever

D．Nothing can be done on earthquakes